Extraneous visual noise facilitates word learning

Katherine Twomey, Lancaster University, UK

Lizhi Ma, Lancaster University, UK

Gert Westermann, Lancaster University, UK

Abstract

Variability is important to learning; however, whether it supports
or hinders language acquisition is unclear. 3D object studies suggest that
children learn words better when target objects vary, however storybook studies
indicate that contextual variability impairs learning. We tested a dynamic
systems account in which background variability should boost learning by speeding
the emergence of new behaviors. Two groups of two-year-old children saw arrays of
one novel and two known objects on a screen, and heard a novel or known label.
Stimuli were identical across conditions, with the exception that in the constant
condition objects appeared on a white background, and in the variable condition
backgrounds were colored. Only children in the variable condition showed evidence
of word learning, suggesting that extraneous variability supports learning by
decontextualizing representations, and indicating that adding low-level entropy
to the developmental system can trigger a change in behavior.